We spent Tuesday in Amboise the place we noticed the attention-grabbing fortress there which overlooks the Loire River. We additionally visited Clos Luce, the house of Leonardo Da Vinci and in between had lunch on the road neglected by the fortress and had a brief bike trip alongside the Loire and to the “golden island which faces the Chateau.
The Royal Chateau d’Amboise was the center of royal energy through the Renaissance, a spot to reside and keep for all of the Valois and Bourbon kings. Francoise 1er (who ordered the development of Chambord Chateau) was raised in Amboise alongside together with his sister, and the youngsters of Henri II and Catherine de Medici. The historic royal residence partially designed by Da Vinci. The king who did a lot of the constructing — Charles VIII — is legendary for by chance killing himself by strolling right into a door lintel on his method to a tennis match (jeu de paume or actual tennis)…however most likely additionally had different well being points which contributed to his demise 9 hours later. He was succeeded by a distant cousin, Louis XII (who then married his spouse, Anne of Brittany), and he additionally died with out male heirs…so Francois 1er succeeded him. The Loire chateaux and historical past are all intertwined.
On the grounds is a chapel, which was frequent in that period. Leonardo da Vinci’s burial place is positioned on the grounds. He met Francois 1er in 1516 in Amboise and the sovereign gave him what’s now referred to as Clos Luce and a pension, and he retired in Amboise.
The chateau is constructed within the Renaissance type with items of Gothic structure additionally obvious. The view from the tower over the river is spectacular. The gardens too are well-maintained, with completely clipped spherical bushes and a beautiful view of the fortress and the Loire.
After lunch we biked to Chateau Clos-Lucé, the place Da Vinci spent his final three years. His innovations are proven contained in the Chateau but additionally featured across the giant park which surrounds the grounds…issues resembling Archimedes Screw, locks (water), gears and so forth. A real Renaissance man, he was in fact a well-known painter (Mona Lisa, the Final Supper) however manner forward of his time together with his engineering concepts, which in fact his means to attract supplemented his explanations.
After visiting da Vinci’s dwelling, we biked alongside the Loire and Sidney and I biked to the small “Golden Island” which is a mere 1/2 mile lengthy…however had pretty views of the Chateau and naturally we discovered a small tennis membership there and a big statue of da Vinci sitting beneath a tree going through the Chateau. I walked again to our Airbnb alongside a tree-lined road.
